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Jose Mourinho has said Manchester United’s rich history, rather than just ‘one generation of success’, is what makes the club special.

The comments will likely be seen as a subtle dig at former employers Chelsea where sustained success has only existed since the arrival of Roman Abramovich and his rubles in 2003.

Mourinho has revelled in talking up the status of his new employers since being unveiled as the successor to Louis van Gaal and he continued that at an Adidas promotional event.

Asked what made United special, Mourinho reminisced about his first trip to Old Trafford as a manager when his Porto side stunned the Red Devils on their way to Champions League success in 2004.

‘I think I understood that it was a special place before I joined. It was 2004, and my first contact with the club and with the stadium, and with the fans in spite of the fact that they were obviously against me. It was enough to feel that it was special.’

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He continued: ‘After that, it is history. And history, nobody can delete, I always say that. And history is amazing. It is not one generation of success, but consecutive generations of success. So, history makes it also special.’

Asked about why he had a connection with Manchester United, Mourinho explained: ‘Yeah, always as an opponent but always respectful. It had to be one of the club’s I played against more times. And being an emotional person and somebody, that in competition, I become a little bit different than I am in normal days. I manage, I don’t know how, to keep such a good relationship with the club and the fans. Maybe my relation with Sir Alex had an influence on that, because I was always feeling a special respect for him.’